DEMARQUET'S ROLE IN THE STRUGGLE: Beyond Bolivar

Demarquet's European plans seem to have been put aside; he now
served Ecuador – and Florès.
Towards the end of the following year, Boussingault found himself at
Demarquet's side during the
revolt of the Vargas battalion, an event as as tragic as it must
have been terrifying:

In the night of October 10 to 11 1831, the officers of
the Vargas battalion, except for commandant Whitle, were arrested at
the instigation of a sergeant-major, the Negro Arboleda.

At 11 in the evening, Florès
finding himself in the palace, in a ground floor room, a bullet,
coming from the main plaza, killed his assistant. The general
understood immediately that there was an insurrection. He went out at
once on horseback through a hidden door and went into the city to
order a regiment of hussars, camped a few leagues away, to march
against the rebels. At 12 in the morning, there was a lively
agitation on the square: the Vargas battalion was under arms.

I had my treasure and my papers buried in the
archbishop's garden by my assistant Vicente; then I managed to go out
without being noticed and, despite what I was advised, I was on
horseback beside general Florès. A parlay was being held with
the rebels who declared, as was true, that they had not been paid.
They demanded their pay to return to the Central Provinces. It was
decided to give them money; colonel Demarquet and I were charged with
the distribution. Demarquet took a few piastres from a bag
which he put in the soldiers' hands. I was there as a witness and my
role was not without its use, because there was a moment where a
grenadier, too impatient, put the end of his trabuco
on my friend's hip, I just had time to turn away the shot which went
off without touching him. After the granted indemnity, it was agreed
that before authorizing the battalion's departure, the president of
the Republic of Ecuador would make certain propositions. For this
purpose, the troops were to meet in the square.

At 3, we found the soldiers in formation. Florès
advanced with us some distance from the front, but at the moment he
was starting to talk, the battalion fired. One is rarely exposed to a
hail of bullets, like that which was directed against our group; one
never forgets so deafening a noise. General Florès,
in a movement known to the llaneros had, after the volley, his
legs crossed over his saddle and his body under the horse's belly. As
for us, shocked to still be alive, we fled hastily to a street where
there we would be covered; only the horses had been lightly wounded.
We were able to return to the neighborhood of the archbishop's
residence. The rebels began to march with the intention of going to
Pasto to join general Obando, apparently the instigator of the
rebellion. Colonel Whitle followed them in hopes of bringing them
back to their duty, which cost him his life because fallen into an
ambush, he was shot on the bridge of Guayabamba.

Once out of Quito, the soldiers marched without order as
always happens with troops obliged to provide for themselves. The
stragglers were dragged off by the hussars who were following them.
They captured the sergeant-major Arboleda, who was shot in the main
plaza, despite the pleas for mercy from some ladies who took a
singular interest in this Negro. Not one of the soldiers of the
Vargas battalion made it to the interior; most were taken to Quito.

It was sad to see men endowed with undeniable courage die
with so much determination and indifference. Those who escaped the
searches spread out everywhere. Several times I encountered some;
they gave me a military salute, a kind of confession. I understood,
and I felt sorry for them.

Two
weeks later, on October 29, 1831, Demarquet was granted retirement
and a pension:

Also approved was that
of the War Committee, whose opinion is passed to the Executive to
grant his retirement to Colonel Carlos Eloy Demarquet, who requested
it from Congress, assigning
him the third of the salary of his class, from which he can profit
whatever his residence, during the time fixed by the Executive to
maintain its continuance, and if he does not take service under
another flag.

Demarquet had already made forays into
business and Boussingault says that Demarquet now became a
businessman. Unfortunately, after Bolivar, his life in general is
barely documented. What follows reflects the fitful availability of
information.

Tomás
Cipriano de Mosquera (who would later be president of Colombia
four times) gave a glimpse of Demarquet's fortunes (and his
character) when, finding himself in Lima on a mission the year
before, he had had to borrow money and then wrote Bolivar to explain
the circumstances:

All recourse is closed, and
General Florès has not been able to send me a real, I
was going to sell my furniture to go and not perish here with the
frigate, to seek our end in Guayaquil and hide our shame in Colombia;
when your excellent friend and ours, Colonel Demarquet and Codecido,
offered me their services, so long as I find a way to pay them.
Neither, absolutely neither, has asked for my personal guarantee to
give me a real and they offer me what they have. Demarquet has
put all his small fortune in our hands, and has given me twenty
thousand pesos, to pay them in discount of rights in Guayaquil, and
I have concluded a contract allowing them to deal in linen and woolen
cloth... I have pledged my
responsibility to these men and it would be very painful to ruin
myself in serving my country. Never, sir, have I abused my posts, and
Y. knows me: and so
excuse me for being vague in this matter and I assure Y. E. I
proceeded to this only by love of country. It consoles me as well
that Y. E. knows that Demarquet and I are not speculators, and that
Codecido has served us other times in similar circumstances.

It
may be then that Demarquet was, among other things, dealing in
textiles at this point.

The following year, he was
“reintegrated” as a French citizen, per a note in the
French national archives: “Reintegration in the status of being
French, authorization to serve abroad; DEMARQUET Charles, Eloi;
Seine; Bolivia; May 14, 1832.” 2
BB/11/332 réintégration dans la qualité de
français, autorisation de servir à l'étranger ;
DEMARQUET Charles, Éloi ; Seine ; Bolivie ; 14 mai 1832
.

This shows that he was in Paris when he applied; supposedly he was residing there too, though it may be he made that declaration to avoid complications. Was he then coming from Bolivia? If so, this is the only note of his having resided there.

Unless the permission to “serve
abroad” was retroactive, this would also imply that he did not
entirely plan to leave military (or at least public) life.

In 1835, he was in Quito, where his
father-in-law gave him a proxy or power of attorney for an
unspecified purpose. Banco
Central del Ecuador, Fondo
Jijón y Caamaño
1983-<c1987> I:201-202

Demarquet seems to have been, at least
for a time, a part of the Florès administration, as evidenced
by a reference concerning the debt owed by Ecuador to Gran Colombia
for the struggle with Spain. Hurtado – who does not mention
Demarquet elsewhere – writes that in 1836 the government was
considering who to send on a mission related to this debt but that
“Demarquet was not suited to
the circumstances of working in the bond business.” Hurtado,
190-191 This is curious, given his reputation for
efficiency in general. But it may be that, simply put, he did not have
a head for finance.

While it is just possible at this point
that this referred to one of his sons, it is sure that his services
were again needed in Ecuador, thanks to a person who kept reappearing
in his, and Ecuador's, life: Juan José
Florès.

One must remember that Florès was formerly the
president of this sad republic, that he was overthrown and expelled
from the country, not without having signed a personal guarantee to
the government to which he gave way, and that since he has tried
several times to return as master, arms in hand, to Ecuador. The
noise of his undertakings has filled America.

On January 15, 1847 colonel Eloy Demarquet was named as
Chargé d'Affaires
[to Chile], “to address the means of counteracting the
expedition of Don Juan José Florès” so that in
everything he agree with Rocafuerte and with the special mission of
traveling constantly from Lima to Santiago, with the purpose of
carrying instructions from Rocafuerte and Millan, which often it was
not prudent to trust to pen and paper.

No doubt much remains to be discovered
about the years between this appointment and 1860. Boussingault is quoted (apparently not from his memoirs) as saying in 1860 that Demarquet was then the richest man in Quito and, having liquidated everything, was on the point of returning to France. He had certainly settled there by August of that year, when his daughter Petrona was married. Whether he already had been so before, after Bolivar's death and before a return to Quito, is unclear. As already stated, he died there in
1870.